# Solar eclipse of October 3, 1986

A total solar eclipse occurred at the Moon's descending node of orbit on Friday, October 3, 1986, with a magnitude of 1. It was a hybrid event, with only a fraction of its path as total, and longer sections at the start and end as an annular eclipse. A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, thereby totally or partly obscuring the image of the Sun for a viewer on Earth. A total solar eclipse occurs when the Moon's apparent diameter is larger than the Sun's, blocking all direct sunlight, turning day into darkness. Totality occurs in a narrow path across Earth's surface, with the partial solar eclipse visible over a surrounding region thousands of kilometres wide. The Moon's apparent diameter was near the average diameter because it occurred 8.3 days after apogee (on September 25, 1986, at 11:00 UTC) and 3.7 days before perigee (on October 7, 1986, at 10:50 UTC).
Totality occurred for a very short time (calculated at 0.08 seconds) in an area in the Atlantic Ocean, just east of the southern tip of Greenland. The path, on the surface of the Earth, was a narrow, tapered, horse-shoe, and visible only from a thin strip between Iceland and Greenland. A partial eclipse was visible for parts of North America, Central America, the Caribbean, northern South America, and Iceland. This eclipse was the last central eclipse of Solar Saros 124 and the only hybrid eclipse of that cycle.

## Observations

The only witnesses of a few seconds of brief totality were the "Gang of Nine" eclipse chasers aboard a plane at an altitude of 40,000 feet.
The eclipse also resulted in litigation involving a Florida fourth grader whose eyes were allegedly damaged when he viewed the partial eclipse on school grounds. A lower court had dismissed the case on the grounds that the school had no duty to supervise the child after school hours. But the Florida Court of Appeals ruled in 1994 that the jury instruction on that question was improper, and remanded the case.

## Eclipse details

Shown below are two tables displaying details about this particular solar eclipse. The first table outlines times at which the moon's penumbra or umbra attains the specific parameter, and the second table describes various other parameters pertaining to this eclipse.
October 3, 1986 Solar Eclipse Times :
| Event | Time (UTC) |
| First Penumbral External Contact | 1986 October 03 at 16:58:20.8 UTC |
| Equatorial Conjunction | 1986 October 03 at 18:07:22.2 UTC |
| Ecliptic Conjunction | 1986 October 03 at 18:55:40.6 UTC |
| First Umbral External Contact | 1986 October 03 at 18:55:55.1 UTC |
| First Central Line | 1986 October 03 at 18:56:25.6 UTC |
| Greatest Duration | 1986 October 03 at 18:56:25.6 UTC |
| First Umbral Internal Contact | 1986 October 03 at 18:56:57.6 UTC |
| Greatest Eclipse | 1986 October 03 at 19:06:15.0 UTC |
| Last Umbral Internal Contact | 1986 October 03 at 19:16:11.3 UTC |
| Last Central Line | 1986 October 03 at 19:16:40.7 UTC |
| Last Umbral External Contact | 1986 October 03 at 19:17:08.5 UTC |
| Last Penumbral External Contact | 1986 October 03 at 21:14:27.6 UTC |
October 3, 1986 Solar Eclipse Parameters :
| Parameter | Value |
| Eclipse Magnitude | 1.00002 |
| Eclipse Obscuration | 1.00004 |
| Gamma | 0.99305 |
| Sun Right Ascension | 12h37m45.8s |
| Sun Declination | -04°04'06.7" |
| Sun Semi-Diameter | 15'59.2" |
| Sun Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 08.8" |
| Moon Right Ascension | 12h39m37.6s |
| Moon Declination | -03°13'11.4" |
| Moon Semi-Diameter | 15'58.2" |
| Moon Equatorial Horizontal Parallax | 0°58'36.8" |
| ΔT | 55.2 s |

## Eclipse season

This eclipse is part of an eclipse season, a period, roughly every six months, when eclipses occur. Only two (or occasionally three) eclipse seasons occur each year, and each season lasts about 35 days and repeats just short of six months (173 days) later; thus two full eclipse seasons always occur each year. Either two or three eclipses happen each eclipse season. In the sequence below, each eclipse is separated by a fortnight.
Eclipse season of October 1986 :
| October 3 Descending node (new moon) | October 17 Ascending node (full moon) |
| Hybrid solar eclipse Solar Saros 124 | Total lunar eclipse Lunar Saros 136 |

## Related eclipses
### Eclipses in 1986

* A partial solar eclipse on April 9.
* A total lunar eclipse on April 24.
* A hybrid solar eclipse on October 3.
* A total lunar eclipse on October 17.

### Metonic

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 15, 1982
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of July 22, 1990

### Tzolkinex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of August 22, 1979
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of November 13, 1993

### Half-Saros

* Preceded by: Lunar eclipse of September 27, 1977
* Followed by: Lunar eclipse of October 8, 1995

### Tritos

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of November 3, 1975
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 2, 1997

### Solar Saros 124

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of September 22, 1968
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of October 14, 2004

### Inex

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of October 23, 1957
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of September 13, 2015

### Triad

* Preceded by: Solar eclipse of December 3, 1899
* Followed by: Solar eclipse of August 3, 2073

### Solar eclipses of 1986–1989

This eclipse is a member of a semester series. An eclipse in a semester series of solar eclipses repeats approximately every 177 days and 4 hours (a semester) at alternating nodes of the Moon's orbit.
Solar eclipse series sets from 1986 to 1989 :
| Ascending node | Ascending node | Ascending node | Descending node | Descending node | Descending node |
| Saros | Map | Gamma | Saros | Map | Gamma |
| 119 | April 9, 1986 Partial | −1.0822 | 124 | October 3, 1986 Hybrid | 0.9931 |
| 129 | March 29, 1987 Hybrid | −0.3053 | 134 | September 23, 1987 Annular | 0.2787 |
| 139 | March 18, 1988 Total | 0.4188 | 144 | September 11, 1988 Annular | −0.4681 |
| 149 | March 7, 1989 Partial | 1.0981 | 154 | August 31, 1989 Partial | −1.1928 |

### Saros 124

This eclipse is a part of Saros series 124, repeating every 18 years, 11 days, and containing 73 events. The series started with a partial solar eclipse on March 6, 1049. It contains total eclipses from June 12, 1211 through September 22, 1968, and a hybrid eclipse on October 3, 1986. There are no annular eclipses in this set. The series ends at member 73 as a partial eclipse on May 11, 2347. Its eclipses are tabulated in three columns; every third eclipse in the same column is one exeligmos apart, so they all cast shadows over approximately the same parts of the Earth.
The longest duration of totality was produced by member 39 at 5 minutes, 46 seconds on May 3, 1734. All eclipses in this series occur at the Moon’s descending node of orbit.
Series members 43–64 occur between 1801 and 2200: :
| 43 | 44 | 45 |
| June 16, 1806 | June 26, 1824 | July 8, 1842 |
| 46 | 47 | 48 |
| July 18, 1860 | July 29, 1878 | August 9, 1896 |
| 49 | 50 | 51 |
| August 21, 1914 | August 31, 1932 | September 12, 1950 |
| 52 | 53 | 54 |
| September 22, 1968 | October 3, 1986 | October 14, 2004 |
| 55 | 56 | 57 |
| October 25, 2022 | November 4, 2040 | November 16, 2058 |
| 58 | 59 | 60 |
| November 26, 2076 | December 7, 2094 | December 19, 2112 |
| 61 | 62 | 63 |
| December 30, 2130 | January 9, 2149 | January 21, 2167 |
| 64 |
| January 31, 2185 |

### Metonic series

The metonic series repeats eclipses every 19 years (6939.69 days), lasting about 5 cycles. Eclipses occur in nearly the same calendar date. In addition, the octon subseries repeats 1/5 of that or every 3.8 years (1387.94 days). All eclipses in this table occur at the Moon's descending node.
21 eclipse events between July 22, 1971 and July 22, 2047 :
| July 22 | May 9–11 | February 26–27 | December 14–15 | October 2–3 |
| 116 | 118 | 120 | 122 | 124 |
| July 22, 1971 | May 11, 1975 | February 26, 1979 | December 15, 1982 | October 3, 1986 |
| 126 | 128 | 130 | 132 | 134 |
| July 22, 1990 | May 10, 1994 | February 26, 1998 | December 14, 2001 | October 3, 2005 |
| 136 | 138 | 140 | 142 | 144 |
| July 22, 2009 | May 10, 2013 | February 26, 2017 | December 14, 2020 | October 2, 2024 |
| 146 | 148 | 150 | 152 | 154 |
| July 22, 2028 | May 9, 2032 | February 27, 2036 | December 15, 2039 | October 3, 2043 |
| 156 |
| July 22, 2047 |

### Tritos series

This eclipse is a part of a tritos cycle, repeating at alternating nodes every 135 synodic months (≈ 3986.63 days, or 11 years minus 1 month). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee), but groupings of 3 tritos cycles (≈ 33 years minus 3 months) come close (≈ 434.044 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
Series members between 1801 and 2200 :
| March 14, 1801 (Saros 107) | February 12, 1812 (Saros 108) | January 12, 1823 (Saros 109) | | November 10, 1844 (Saros 111) |
| | | August 9, 1877 (Saros 114) | July 9, 1888 (Saros 115) | June 8, 1899 (Saros 116) |
| May 9, 1910 (Saros 117) | April 8, 1921 (Saros 118) | March 7, 1932 (Saros 119) | February 4, 1943 (Saros 120) | January 5, 1954 (Saros 121) |
| December 4, 1964 (Saros 122) | November 3, 1975 (Saros 123) | October 3, 1986 (Saros 124) | September 2, 1997 (Saros 125) | August 1, 2008 (Saros 126) |
| July 2, 2019 (Saros 127) | June 1, 2030 (Saros 128) | April 30, 2041 (Saros 129) | March 30, 2052 (Saros 130) | February 28, 2063 (Saros 131) |
| January 27, 2074 (Saros 132) | December 27, 2084 (Saros 133) | November 27, 2095 (Saros 134) | October 26, 2106 (Saros 135) | September 26, 2117 (Saros 136) |
| August 25, 2128 (Saros 137) | July 25, 2139 (Saros 138) | June 25, 2150 (Saros 139) | May 25, 2161 (Saros 140) | April 23, 2172 (Saros 141) |
| March 23, 2183 (Saros 142) | February 21, 2194 (Saros 143) |

### Inex series

This eclipse is a part of the long period inex cycle, repeating at alternating nodes, every 358 synodic months (≈ 10,571.95 days, or 29 years minus 20 days). Their appearance and longitude are irregular due to a lack of synchronization with the anomalistic month (period of perigee). However, groupings of 3 inex cycles (≈ 87 years minus 2 months) comes close (≈ 1,151.02 anomalistic months), so eclipses are similar in these groupings.
Series members between 1801 and 2200 :
| February 1, 1813 (Saros 118) | January 11, 1842 (Saros 119) | December 22, 1870 (Saros 120) |
| December 3, 1899 (Saros 121) | November 12, 1928 (Saros 122) | October 23, 1957 (Saros 123) |
| October 3, 1986 (Saros 124) | September 13, 2015 (Saros 125) | August 23, 2044 (Saros 126) |
| August 3, 2073 (Saros 127) | July 15, 2102 (Saros 128) | June 25, 2131 (Saros 129) |
| June 4, 2160 (Saros 130) | May 15, 2189 (Saros 131) | |